Change is Emotional
There’s a lot of effort focused on the change management process in the workplace.
As if change is an intellectual experience that can be managed.
Change is emotional.
Emotion precedes process.
The initial step in a change/transition experience is creating space for healthy conversation.
Based on our unique perspective of the impending impact, we cling to one of two emotional states:
Fear of loss. Hope of gain.
These vantage points are determined by how the change came about:
When change is thrust upon us, we feel a fear of loss
When change is initiated by us, we feel a hope of gain
If you are thrusting change upon others, be cautious to think that your process will speed up how people adapt. It won’t. Progress slows down by rushing past the critical steps of identifying and validating human emotion.
Perhaps we’d improve our success rate of guiding our self, and others, through change by committing to a more gentle starting point:
Change doesn’t start with a process. It begins with a pause.